Thermostat



Aug. 25, 1925.

.INVENTOR.

ATToRNEv.

Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATEN'I OFFICE.

HOWARD IPARTILOW, 0F UTICA, NEW YORK.

\ THERMOSTAT. y Drginai application `filed. January 25, 1924, Serial No;688,555. Divided and this application filed October To @ZZ whom t mayconcern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD lll. PnRTLow, a citizen of the United States,residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have,invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thermostats, of whichthe following is a specification. d A

This invention relates to improvements in thermostats, designed for useinconneetion with various heaters and mediums to vbe heated, asmelting-pots and the like, and has for its object to provide atemperature regulator of the class, which is more sensitive and positiveand more reliable than any other thermostat known to me. A. furtherobject is to provide a thermostatic element comprising two parts, one ofsaid parts being hollow and inclosing the other part, the said hollowpart preferably being constructed from ferrous metal having relativelylow expansibility, as compared with non-ferrous metals commonly used forthe purpose; the other part comprising a non-enpansible member, andserving as a mechanical medium for transmitting the thermal actions ofthe hollow member to a train of compounding levers and parts, by whichfuel governing and dispensing valves, or other mechanisms may beoperated or controlled. And a further object is to generally improve,simplify and render more accurate and reliable thermostatic devices ofthe class, especially applicable for controlling' burners that aresupplied with gas at higher than commercial pressures. Y

I attain these objectsby the means set forth in the detailed descriptionwhich follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, inwhich-d Figure 1 is a central vertical section; showing agas-governor'to which my thermostat is operatively applied; also showingthe thermostat submerged in the contents of a `melting-pot. Fig. 2 is atransverse vertical section, taken on line- 2-2 of Fig. t.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the perforated member and certain ofthe compound- Y ing levers operated thereby. Fig. .4 is a top- `end viewof the thermostatic part and Fig.

5 is a horizontalsection, taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 1. y

In the drawing, 2 represents the hollow body of a gas-governor, such forexample, as is employedin connection with melting-pots, as A,water-heaters, and the like, and which is adapted `to be charged withcombustible Serial No. 741,922.

gas, or other fluid pressure, by which the supply of gas to the burner,A', may be controlled. The' gas or fluid pressure enters the bodythrough a pipe 2, and discharges through a pipe2a. The outflow of thefluid pressure from the governor is controlled by The screw 5 ismanipulated by means of a disc 6, by which the` adjustment ofthe valveseat is regulated. ]The disc supports a dial 7, by which the temperatureof somemedium, as ae, may beA predetermined. The valve 3 is suspendedfrom one end of a relativelyv long lever 8, the opposite end of saidlever being supported by a pair kof dogs 9 and 10,

which .respectively engage-fulcrum pins 8 and 8a, as shown 1n Fig. 1;The dogs 9 and 10 are pivoted to a block ,12, by screwsla, and areprovided `with similar `depending ball-portions Sic-10% which normallyengage the top face of anr arm 13 of a verti- Acally disposed oscillatelever 13, the said lever being formed with a perforated lug 13a, whichis pivoted tothe block 12, by a screw 13b. The lateral swinging of thelever 18, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1,

effects the spreading of the top-endsof the dogs 9--10, and tilts theforward end of lever 8 in the directionforlifting the valve 3 away fromits seat (see dotted lines in Fig. 1). This allows the fluid pressurecontained in the body 2 to escape through the pipe 2a, for supplyingfuel to the burner A,

or for performing other work;

141 represents an elongated hollow metal leg or part, whichdepends fromthe body 2, to which it is detachably secured by means of a flange 14:',.and screws 14a. The loottom of the body has an opening 2, whichregisters with the chamber of the leg 14. The lever 13 extendsdownwardly inthe leg, and. is oscillated by a similar but inverted lever15, which is pivoted eccentrically near the lower end of the leg by ascrew 15.. The levers 13-15 are preferably disposed in the same planevertically, and their free Yends overlap `and are held in frictionalengagement, also in alinement by a fork 15a. The ylever 15 is providedwith ahorizontal arm 15b, by which said lever and lever 13 are rock-edlaterally, as shown in F ig. 1. A spring 8c tends to normally depressthe lever 8 to the full line position shown in Fig. 1, for allowing` theclosing of the valve 3 by gravity, K

The valve 3 and the several dogs and levers are operated, as a train, bya therm'ostatic element, or device, which consists of a tube 16, thelatter depending axially from the leg 14, and the top endl beingthreaded to the lower end of the leg". The lower end 16 of the tube isinternally and externally threaded andis closed and sealed by'ascrew-cap 1.7. rThe tube 16 is preferably made of steel, and has arelatively low expansibility, as compared with brass and other metalscommonly employed Jfor thermostats of the class. lVithin the tube 16 isdisposed a rod 18, which may be made of steel or other materialpreferably having less expansibility than said tube. The object Vof thisparticular construction is to restrict the thermal actions of thegoverning device entirely to the tube16, instead of to a combination ofparts, as heretofore. By

providing a single thermostatic' element, as

16, of relatively low expansibility, I am able topositivel'y andaccurately control the gas' valve 3, or other mechanism, without theusual interferences and uncertain and uncontrollable,actions ot any'ofthe related parts, and by rigidly connecting vthe neutral rod 18 toy theremote end of the tube, ensures adequate linear movement, as well aspower, for positively operating the tra-in of Vcompounding levers andparts'tha't effec-ti the seating and unseating'ofthe valve 3. The lower'end ot the rod 18' is threaded and is maderigidin the.`co'rr'espondingend of the tube 16, bya nut 19,'whichis firstscrewed ontothe rod until it engages'an adjacent shoulder ot the tube,afte`r which alocking nut 2O is screwedl into the tube and against the nut'19, The topend of rod 18 is forked, and straddles and isr pivoted tothe arni15b oflever 15, by a screw 15C. By this arrangement, the slightest contractionor'eXp'ansion of the tube 16, rocks the levers 13-15, dogs v9, 10, andlever 8, in a positive manner, as

shown bythe full and dotted lines in Fig. 1.

By employing ferrous metal ot compara--`r` tively low expansibility, thetemperature changes ot the melting-pot A rarely effect-s the expansionor contractionof the thermostat 16 more than a few thousandthsof 'aninch. vBut owing to the fact that the 'rodf 18 is made fast to theextreme lower end of the tube 16, whatever thermal' action'talfes placeis communicated by the rod to the trainof 'compounding parte, andeitects the positive raising and lowering of the valve 3, and' by reasonof the peculiar construction and arrangement Aof the thermostat andirod18,

the' same positive operation' of the valve takes place whether or notthe tube 16 is fully or only partially submerged in the medium :c:k Thelower end ot the thermostat being free from contact with the bot- .tomor sides of the melting pot, the lengthening and shortening'of 'the saidtube, although "itis rigid to the leg 14, cannot affect the slightestshifting of the levers that control the valve, except through themedium'i of the' neutral rod 18, as explained.

In order to obviate any tendency of ythe leg 11i to contract or lexpandwhen the th-ermostalt is deeply submerged and Itherefore disturbthevalve 3,l the levers 15 and 13 are overlapped and are free to movelendwise relatively to each other withoutA exerting any operativeveii'ect upon the dogs 9-10. In the present showingthe expansionlinearly of the tube 16, etfects the movement of the several levers, asfrom the fullI line Ato the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, foropening the valve 3', while the vcontraction of the tube ei'ects thereversal oi the llever 15, and allows the other parts of the train tobecome reversed by the gravitation :of the valve 3.

This case is tiled as a division of my pending application, Serialv No;688,555, iiled Jan. 25, 1924, for thermostat.

VHaving thus described my invention, what i claim, is-

1. The combination'with *a gas governor including a valve for dispensingthe gas, a lever and apair of dogs for controlling said dispensingvalve, of aI metal tube of low eX- `pansibility supportedbyrthe"governor, a

rod disposed axially ink Vthetube, the lower end of said rod'being'anchored near the lower end of the'tube, its top end. being freefrom the-tube, and l"a pair of levers interposed between said rodj andvsaid dogs yadapted to be rocked laterallyv by 'the endwise movement ofsaid rod' 'for effecting' the jopexpansion andr contraction of saidtube, aA

pair" ot'levers interposed between the @rod andsaid dogs, one of saidlevers being frictionally engaged with said dogs, the other lever beingconnected to said rod, said lever adapted to be rocked! laterally bytheendwise movementof said rod for effecting the operationoi1 said valve,and meansfor preventing the operation of said pair of levers by anyAthermal actioneXcept that which is 'transmitted by said rod.

3. The combination' withv a hollow body adapted to be iilled with gas,including a valve for dispensing the gas, of a thermostaticelementtcomprising a tube of relatively low expansibility adapted to besubmerged in a medium that is being heated,

a burner for heating the medium supplied with fuel by the valve, a rodsubstantially neutral to expansion and contraction inclosed by said tubeand rigidly connected to the free end of the tube, and a pair ofy 4f.The combination with a melting-pot,V

and a burner for heating the pot, of a governor comprising a hollow bodyadapted to be charged With fuel gas, a valve in said body, a lever foroperating the body valve, a pair of dogs supporting and operating thesaid lever, a thermostat adapted to be submerged in the medium heated insaid pot comprising a tube of low expansibility, a rod disposed in saidtube, the lower end of said rod being anchored in the bottom of thetube, a hollow leg depending from said body and supporting said tube,eccentrically pivoted levers disposed vertically in said leg, one ofsaid levers connected to and rocked by said rod, the corresponding endsof said levers being overlapped and the uppermost lever adapted to bemoved laterally by the lowermost lever, and the remote end of theuppermost lever engaging and rocking said dogs.

5. A tliermostatic control for heaters comprising a gravitative valve, alever for raising said valve, a pair of dogs for supporting and tiltingsaid lever in the direction for opening said valve, av pair of leversfor actuating said dogs, said levers being disposed in the same planeand the adjacent ends thereof being overlapped, the remote ends of saidlevers being pivoted, a tube adapted to be submerged in a medium to beheated, and a rod disposed in said tube, the lower end'of said rod beinganchored in the bottom of the tube, the upper end thereof being pivotedto the lowermost lever of said pair adapted to rock the overlapped endsof said levers laterallyby theeXpansion of said tube for lifting thesaid valve, said valve adapt-ed to close by gravity and to reverse themovements of all of said operating parts except the lowermost lever ofsaid pair by the contraction of said tube. y

In testimony whereof I aiiix mysignature.

HOWARD W. PARTLOW.

